


Thanatos' Portal

by Morgan (morgan32)



Category: Sapphire and Steel, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-07-21
Updated: 2009-07-21
Packaged: 2017-10-02 11:02:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgan32/pseuds/Morgan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was the day that everyone died. This was the day that everyone died. This was...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thanatos' Portal

It was a dead world, shrouded in darkness. He had been prepared for that. For the sake of Eternity a planet had been sacrificed.

Carbon struggled to hold back the Darkness. To his heightened senses, the Darkness was a tangible thing: a writhing, slippery creature from outside Time.

He could do it. He _would_ do it. This world it had destroyed was about to become its eternal prison.

Had there been anything living to witness Carbons struggle, they would have seen a man, tall and swarthy, with long, flowing hair blown back by a non-existent wind. His eyes, normally dark and sombre, were closed, his head thrown back as if in ecstasy, the chords in his neck standing out strongly. He stood framed within a great circle twice his height and from his outstretched hands blue-white bolts of energy crackled between his hands and the circle that surrounded him.

Just like a magician from a fairy tale, though Carbon was infinitely more powerful, and considerably less human.

Carbons face showed only a part of the strain he was under. It was almost there. Just a few more minutes and his work would be done.

Behind him, the circle began to vibrate. Absorbed in his struggle with the Darkness, carbon was unaware of it. The thing he sought to control redoubled its efforts to escape, writhing against his mind.

The energy flowing between Carbon and the circle faltered. His connection with it was suddenly a trap; its energy turned inward, dragging his down with it. Had he been able, he would have screamed.

A silvery-blue explosion of energy and matter began in the centre of the circle, bursting outward to encompass everything in its path. Including Carbon. Seconds later, the circle was filled with rippling, silver light and the explosion was gone.

So was Carbon.

The Darkness exulted. It fled through the unexpected portal to its freedom.

Carbon could not follow.

The sudden explosion had not killed Carbon: he could not die. But it had disintegrated his physical body, right down to the elements, and the elements alone could neither harness nor absorb the energy he had raised.

He had failed.

***

Colonel Jack ONeill waited in the SGC control room. His friend and colleague, Daniel Jackson stood beside him, watching as the technicians dialled up the latest world they had discovered. Neither of them needed to be here. This was just a routine, pre-mission investigation. The only thing going through the Stargate would be the robotic probe. Jack was in the room because, unusually, he had nothing else scheduled and Daniel had wanted to use the computers to test a theory of his own, just as soon as they closed the Gate.

"Chevron five encoded!" someone announced.

 

_ **All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension ** _

 

"I never get tired of watching this," Daniel commented to Jack.

The familiar vibrations began and the energy the Stargate required built up. It was all perfectly normal. Routine.

"Chevron six encoded!"

The sound of the chevron locking in position echoed through the room below.

 

_ **Trans-Uranic, heavy elements may not be used where there is Life ** _

 

Jack, near the huge window that overlooked the Gate-room, found himself holding his breath at the energy built up to a peak. Though he tended to make light of it, he too was awed by the power of this piece of technology.

 

_ **Medium atomic weights are available ** _

 

"Chevron seven  is locked in place!"

The formal announcement wasnt necessary. The explosion of the wormhole forming between this Gate and another, unimaginably far away, was evidence enough. It would settle into the Gate as the rippling event horizon they had all learned to recognise.

Except, this time, it didnt.

 

_ **Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire, Silver and Steel ** _

 

Afterwards, Jack couldnt remember exactly what happened. The event horizon appeared as normal, but only for the briefest moment. There was a low, humming sound, like electricity, growing rapidly in volume and intensity. Jack found himself reaching for a sidearm that wasnt there, instantly alert for danger.

Some_thing_ came through the Stargate. Something that reminded Jack of an energy blast from a Goauld staff weapon, only ten  no, more like a hundred times more powerful. Jack stared in disbelief as the Gate-room became dark, the wormhole collapsing instantly. It was like a black fog descending: he couldnt even see the Stargate. He moved closer to the window, straining to see. There were _men_ down there!

The glass shattered: a million, razor sharp shards flying as if under great pressure. "Get down!" Jack yelled. Instinctively, with a soldiers reflexes he gathered the closest person  Daniel  and threw them both to the ground. It had all happened in less than a second. No time to sound an alarm, no time, even, to close the blast screen that was the control rooms main protection.

Jack shielded his face with his arms as he fell. He rolled beneath the consoles, pulling Daniel with him. The humming was getting louder, painfully so, drowning the sounds of panic and screams all around them.

That was all Jack would ever remember.

 

_ **Sapphire and Steel have been assigned.** _

***

Jack wasnt aware of having passed out, but the next thing he knew the lights were back on. Half-lights: the emergency generators kicking in. Jack raised his head slowly. Everything was deadly quiet. The control room was a mess. The computer consoles that had been standing everywhere were wrecked. Some lay in pieces on the ground, others were simply twisted heaps of plastic and circuitry, apparently melted by extreme heat. Jagged shards of glass lay everywhere. Over the unmoving bodies of the six technicians who had been in the room when the Gate was opened.

Daniel!

Jack reached for his friend, still lying beside him, apparently unconscious. Getting no response, Jack rolled Daniels body over so he could feel for a pulse. His breath caught in his throat. Dozens of minor lacerations marred Daniels exposed skin. His glasses were broken. But these were minor details; he barely noticed. The thing that stopped Jack's breath was a large shard of glass, half buried in his friends throat. It had severed the carotid artery; he would have died in seconds.

Jack realised the floor beneath him was wet. An artificial calm came over him, pushing to the back of his mind the obvious implications of that fact. He felt himself detach from reality; it was a trick he had learned long ago, a way of staying calm in a crisis. Which this certainly was.

He looked around at the others in the room. Quickly, he scrambled to his feet and checked each body. They were all dead. Something strange, though: other than in Daniels case, Jack could see no obvious cause of death.

What in hell had happened here?

The Stargate!

Jack whirled around at the thought and looked down into the Gate-room. The lights were back there, too, if only dimly. He leaned over the edge, straining to see. All he could make out was an empty room.

He could see the Stargate, though, its huge circle dominating the room as always. As he waited for his eyes to adjust, Jack thought the Gate looked a little odd: the top of it not quite circular. Just a trick of the shadows, he supposed.

Then he realised that the Gate was broken.

Adrenaline flooded his veins and he took off at a run. He had the presence of mind to hit the alarm button as he hurried from the room. The wail of the alarm filled the air around him and Jack wondered absently why no one had done that earlier. Surely there must be _someone_ else around? Maybe he was having a nightmare.

This had better be a nightmare. Or this was shaping up to be a **really** bad day.

***

A chunk of the Stargate had fallen from the apex of the circle. It now lay, a lump of black stone, partway down the ramp before the Gate. At the top of the ramp, the figure of a woman stood. In the dim light it could be seen that she was beautiful: a statuesque valkyrie with startlingly blue eyes, wearing a simple, long-lined coat-dress in sapphire blue. Her hand, long-fingered and long-nailed, caressed the cool ring of the Stargate.

&lt;&lt;It is constructed of pure naquada&gt;&gt; she announced, speaking telepathically. &lt;&lt;An inter-planetary transport device. Approximately fifty thousand years old.&gt;&gt; She turned to her companion, an unhurried gesture, her eyes glowing briefly in the darkness. &lt;&lt;Naquada doesnt exist on this planet, Steel. The device must have been constructed elsewhere. That would mean that the technology is alien.&gt;&gt;

Her companion, a grim-faced man, merely nodded. "That device is how _it_ got here?" he asked aloud.

"It must be, Steel," she answered, speaking aloud for the first time. "Theres no other way."

"And its free, here?"

The womans eyes glowed brighter. "It is," she confirmed. "It did a lot of damage as it came through." She looked up at the shattered window above the Gate-room. "So much death," she said, her voice a little softer than before.

"Lets undo it, then," the man responded.

The pair moved to stand together, in front of the Stargate, with the broken chunk of naquada at their feet. For a moment, they were still, and silent.

The woman drew in her breath, sharply. "Steel, wait. Theres someone still alive here."

A wailing alarm began to peal through the air. As one, they turned toward the chambers only door.

***

Jack burst into the Gate-room at a dead run. Most of the illumination came from the control room above. It was as if all the energy had been sucked from the room. But there was enough light for him to see the two figures standing before the Gate. A man and a woman, neither of them in uniform, neither one anybody Jack recognised. He would have known if civilian access had been authorised. That eliminated, there was only one way  that Jack could think of  that they could have come into this chamber.

The Stargate.

And whatever had come through the Gate was responsible for the deaths of seven people in the control room. Not to mention millions of dollars worth of damage, and quite possibly, many, many other deaths.

As one, the couple turned to face him.

The man wore a suit and tie, both steel-grey. His eyes were grey, too, and his steady, focussed gaze missed nothing. The woman was a blue-eyed blonde. Her eyes met Jacks and held his gaze. Neither of them moved.

Jack had to tear his eyes away. Her gaze was hypnotic. He found himself wishing he had thought to pick up a weapon.

Remembering (had he forgotten?) who and what he was, Jack took a deep breath. "Who are you and how did you get in here?" he demanded. The alarm was beginning to get on his nerves. Surely _someone_ was alive to hear it?

The man didnt move. The woman left her companions side and approached Jack. She offered her hand. "I am Sapphire."

Jack pointedly ignored the offered hand. He wasnt going to touch her. They both _looked_ human, their clothes suggested they belonged on Earth. But with everything that was happening, Jack distrusted that. They could be Goaulds. Hell, they could be _anything_.

"We are here to help," Sapphire added.

"Some help! There are people dead up there!" Jack looked up at the shattered window above.

The man interrupted arrogantly. "The thing that caused those deaths is still out there. The longer we wait, the less likely it is we can stop it without causing many more deaths."

"The only suspect I see here is you two," Jack pointed out. The response was automatic: his mouth in gear before his brain had time to point out that if they were, in fact, responsible, they were likely to kill him about now. And Jack was still unarmed.

The man was silent for a moment, looking at his companion. The he turned away, as if dismissing Jack from his attention.

Jack had been prepared for denial, or for a fight. But to be brushed aside as irrelevant; that he would not tolerate. He started after the man, to find Sapphire blocking his way.

"Ive had enough of this," Jack muttered. He pushed past Sapphire, reaching out for her companion, intent on getting some answers.

Sapphires startling blue eyes began to glow. Not the white light Jack associated with the Goauld, but blue, becoming more and more intense, rather than brighter.

Jack started to go after the man, only to find Sapphire blocking his way. "Ive had enough of this," he muttered and pushed her aside, not roughly, but determined to get some answers from her companion.

Sapphires eyes began to glow an intense blue.

Jack started after the man. Sapphire blocked his way.

"Ive had enough of this," Jack said.

Sapphires glowing eyes began to dim.

Jack, disoriented, raised a hand to his head. "What just happened?" he asked Sapphire, not really expecting a reply. What _was_ she? A Goauld? Every piece of evidence suggested she was alien, powerful, and probably hostile. Common sense insisted he should assume she and the man were responsible for the carnage that surrounded them. But instinct said she was not Goauld, and that she was telling the truth  at least, as she knew it  when she said they intended to help. Jack had learned to rely on that instinct. It was the same sense that had urged him to trust Tealc, against all common sense, when Tealc had been first Prime to Apophis.

Sapphire answered, "A simple demonstration, replaying a moment of Time."

It explained nothing. Jack was about to say so when she added. "Thats easy to do. To take time back further, an hour, a day, is much harder. Steel was correct when he said we must act quickly here. The longer we delay, the harder it will be."

Sapphire again offered her hand to Jack. This time, still a little wary, he took it.

"Perhaps," she suggested, "you can help us. What is this place?"

The question brought him back to focus. God, what had she done to him? "_I_ am Colonel Jack ONeill, United States Air Force," he told her. Name, rank and serial number. "This is a top secret facility and I have no idea who or _what_ you are  "

"A military base," the man  Steel  said. He still had his back to the others. "We should have guessed. Dont you people realise the forces you are playing with, here?"

Jack decided he did _not_ like this man. Pointedly, he ignored the question.

There was a silence. Jack felt uncomfortable, suddenly, as if  as if he was missing something.

Sapphire nodded, in response to what, Jack had no idea. "Colonel," she began, her tone conciliatory, "I dont know what you think we are, but I promise you, youre wrong. Were not your enemies. We came to prevent more death, not to cause it. You _must_ allow us to do our work."

"That sounds like a threat," Jack said.

"It is not. Will you allow me to explain?"

Involuntarily, Jack glanced up to the shattered window again. He remembered that Daniel was up there. Dead. Killed by whatever force had come through the Stargate. He nodded, reluctantly acceding to Sapphires request.

"Steel and I are  I suppose you could call us caretakers. Or detectives, of a sort. One of our colleagues was attempting to trap a dangerous entity on a planet far from here, when the portal  " she looked back at the Stargate, "this one, was opened. The portal  damaged our colleague and the entity escaped through it. Its passage through the portal caused the destruction and death you see. How did you survive, Colonel?"

Jack shook his head. Her explanation raised far more questions than it answered. "Fast reflexes," he told her, in answer to her question. _Just not fast enough  _"What is this  entity?"

Steel told him, "You wouldnt understand."

Jack glared at his back. "My primitive, human mind couldnt comprehend, is that what youre saying?"

"Thats about right, yes."

"Im getting tired of  "

Sapphire interrupted them. "Steel, we will need his help."

Steel turned around then, facing them both. "How can _he_ possibly help us?" The room was dark, and Steels face was in shadow, but Jack could hear the contempt dripping from his voice.

"Steel, we can take time back to the moment the portal was opened. When we do, we will have to go to the other side of it to finish what Carbon began. Otherwise, time will simply repeat itself."

"Can you do that?" Steel demanded of Jack. "Where were you when it happened?"

"In the control room," Jack answered automatically, but his mind was reeling. Were they _serious_? Were they really discussing turning back _Time_?

Sapphire answered his thoughts. "Yes, this is serious. Let me show you what I can do." She stepped toward him reaching out with one hand. Jack backed off, instinctively, then checked himself. What was he afraid of?

The moment Sapphire touched him, he had his answer.

Her fingers were cool against his cheek and her eyes began to glow brightly once more. And Jack saw 

Darkness shrouding a once-vibrant planet like a spreading stain of ink.

The figure of a man, standing within the circle of a Stargate, energy crackling around him.

The Stargate activated. The man was too close to it and the forming wormhole destroyed him.

The Darkness formed itself into an arrow, fleeing through the Stargate, gaining power as it fled from the wormholes energy. At the other end  Earth  it emerged as an explosion of energy, spreading outward without dissipating, killing everything in its path. Jack saw and _felt_ each death. Through Sapphire, he could recognise the malevolence of the entity as it killed. It fed, somehow, on the destruction of Life.

Jack saw it pass into the control room and whirl, hurling an arrow of energy at the Gate, breaking the circle. Then it continued on its way, filling the SGC with darkness and with death. In the infirmary, patients and doctors died in terror, never knowing what death had found them. The admin offices, the armoury, the science labs  no one, nothing living, escaped. Except, impossibly, Jack ONeill.

He wanted, desperately, to believe that Sapphire lied. That this was an hallucination. But somehow he knew she was showing him the truth.

And the Darkness, which was Death, was still out there. That was the true horror. When everything in SGC was dead, it would seek elsewhere. Spreading panic and death everywhere, it would kill and kill until there was nothing left. Until the sun was dark and the earth an empty, cold shell.

It took Jack almost half a second to make up his mind. He knew this was crazy. But he also knew it was the only way.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked Sapphire, placing himself entirely in her hands.

Steel spoke. "Go back to where you were when the portal opened."

Sapphire added, "You must stop them opening it. At least delay it for as long as you can. When our work is done we will destroy the portal on the other planet, so there will be no further danger."

Still not quite believeing it, Jack asked, "You can really do this? Take time back?"

Sapphire nodded slowly. "Yes," she said simply.

***

Returning to the control room was like stepping into a nightmare.

The room was still full of broken glass, and death. Bodies still lay where they had fallen. Jack tried to close himself off to the sight, but couldnt. He held a memory now, of each individual death. Courtesy of Sapphire and the creature that had done this. It was horrible.

He knelt beside Daniels body. The ground around him was sticky with blood. This, at least, had been a quick death, painless.

Unnecessary.

Jack was alive. Maybe if he had moved just a little faster, Daniel would be alive, too.

He stood, looking down at the two figures standing before the Stargate. In his heart, he didnt really believe it was possible. Sapphire had shown him she had power, but these deaths were too real, too final, for Jack to believe they could be so easily undone.

He saw the pair move; the man standing slightly behind the woman. They were both facing the Stargate, the fallen piece of it at their feet. Jack saw them link hands.

He felt dizzy for a moment and had to close his eyes. He could hear his own heartbeat, loud, so very loud in the silence. And 

***

"Chevron five encoded!" The familiar vibrations began as the energy the Stargate required built up.

Jack swayed, disoriented. He felt Daniels hand on his arm, catching him before he could fall.

"Jack," Daniel said urgently, "are you alright?" His voice full of concern.

Jack steadied himself with Daniels help and opened his eyes. He saw Daniels eyes, meeting his with a worried gaze.

He remembered those eyes closed, Daniels face grey with loss of blood, his flesh cooling and very dead.

"Daniel," he smiled, relieved beyond measure to see him alive. Then, recovering some of his senses, "Im fine."

"Chevron six encoded!"

The announcement cut into Jacks thoughts like an icy shower. "No! Wait!" Jack shouted suddenly, fear filling him. _It cant be too late. Dont let me be too late again _

All heads turned to face him as Jack leapt forward. He heard Daniel call, "Jack?" in pure confusion. He ignored it. He pushed past the technician at the console, panic making him less than gentle. The seventh chevron was already encoding.

"Jack, whats wrong?" Daniel asked him calmly, just as the final chevron locked.

Jack ignored him, concentrating on the controls. His options were down to just one 

There was an explosion of light in the Gate room as the wormhole began to form, unstoppable. And began to stabilise.

Jack hit the panic button. The Stargates iris began to contract. It seemed to take forever. The blast screen that protected the control room also came down, blocking Jacks sight of the Gate.

There was a sound from the Gate-room, like a blast of energy hitting the iris. Jack held his breath. From the room below, he heard a man shout, a single, very sincere curse.

Then there was silence. Not daring to breathe yet, Jack disengaged the wormhole. Only then did he raise the blast screen to look into the room below.

"My god," Daniel breathed. "Jack  how did you know?"

The iris, pure titanium and over an inch thick, had buckled under the force of whatever had hit it. But it had held. Jack drew a long, shuddering breath. Finally, he looked up at Daniel. "Lucky guess," he said.

"Jack  " Daniel warned.

"Its a long story. Lets get down there. I want to make sure everyones alright."

Jack started to get up and saw Sapphire standing directly behind Daniel. She looked insubstantial, ghostly. No one else appeared to see her.

Sapphires eyes glowed intensely. &lt;&lt;Everything _is_ alright&gt;&gt; she said warmly, sending the words directly to his mind. &lt;&lt;It is contained, and the portal on that planet is no more&gt;&gt;

Jack, not wanting to give anyone else more reason to doubt his sanity, couldnt reply. He didnt need to. Meeting her eyes was enough.

She faded almost instantly from his sight. Jack, with Daniel right behind him, headed out the door.


End file.
